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Danny has felt different ever since he was crowned.
Untapped power exploding through him.
It took almost 10 years for his body to adjust to it.
10 years of feeling every inch of the Realms.
Of feeling his atoms undone and put together.
Over.
And over.
And over.
Of feeling how much was contained in the Realms.
How many called the Zone home.
How far the lands stretched.
How far he could reach.
Of feeling the Core calling to him.
Teaching him.
Learning of all that it truly meant to be a denizen of the Infinite Realms.
For the first time, no longer missing the piece of the larger puzzle.
No longer held back by his mortal self.
Danny knew he had changed.
Irreversibly so.
He did not deny the change.
Spent 10 years fighting and relenting.
When he awoke.
He saw Clockwork for what they were.
What his mortal mind could not comprehend.
The original visage a mask. A kind gesture for one who did not need to.
Danny hums.
Appreciation, gratitude, acknowledgement.
Clockwork answers. Core singing under Danny’s attention.
Danny drifts from the space.
Breaking the time locked seal with a mere thought.
Finding mere hours had passed since the crowning.
Hours years hours years hours years-
Danny huffs.
Amused.
He pulls on the ties between, teasing the Ancient of Time.
Clockwork bows, rumbles of what would be laughter in a lesser being but resounds in the space from their core.
Reverberating back.
Danny lets go, turning his attention back to what remained.
Dark tendrils winding through the throne room. Weaving around columns and framing tapestries.
Where what should be ceiling shone glittering constellations amidst sweeping space dust.
Even tread stone beneath a vast expanse of shimmering petals of ice spread out from the raised dias.
Between the pillars, beneath tapestries of their own visage, stands the Court of Ancients.
Free from mortal comprehension, they stood with heads bowed [well the equivalent of such] in all their true form.
Danny observes the Court.
Observes their Submission.
Understands their Obedience.
It is not a bitter taste, no. He had expected it to.
Is surprised to find it…. tangy. Akin to a particularly ripe grape.
Maybe.
Or is it like a tangerine?
He dismisses the thought, as well as the Court, with naught but a turn of the hand-claw-smoke-paw-hand–void-tendril-starlight-
They vanish, slipping into the shadows in silence-in cacophonous chatter-vibrations and subvocal rumbles setting the ice petals afloat.
Danny watches the petals drift, idly listening to Clockwork move behind him as they study the Tapestry of Time.
He turns to his throne.
It does not appear like that of a throne.
Thorns of ice and piercing starlight embedded into hardened sand.
It is, at once, beautiful and horrid and dangerous and peaceful.
He feels the echoes of heartbeats pounding out of sync through the air-the ground-the not space space between.
Feet hitting old cobblestones.
Drawing closer.
Danny closes a fist.
The air condenses, shaking.
Shifting the very atoms of the Space.
Hands hit the door.
Danny's hand presses against the smooth wood of the back of the throne. Ornate patterns of green and black velvet covering the seat.
The door opens.
"Danny!" Three voices overlap.
It takes a millisecond-a lifetime-a fleeting memory-eons to remember.
Danny turns, an easy going smile on his face, blue eyes shimmering.
“Guys!” he says, bouncing lightly down the steps of the dias.
“You’re okay!” Jazz says, relief in every line, rushing to meet him.
“Of course I am,” he rolls his eyes but accepts the hug she nearly bowls him over with. “We told you it would be fine.”
“Still, you were gone for ages, dude,” Tucker says, joining the group to lay a hand on his shoulder.
“It wasn’t that long,” Danny says lightly, slipping out from Jazz’s hold to tug Tucker and Sam into a brief hug.
“It was hours , we didn’t know what was happening, no one would tell us anything,” Sam says, lingering a bit longer before letting go.
“Well, you know how the Court can be,” Danny shrugs.
“Yeah, it’s no wonder you’re always complaining about them,” Tucker shakes his head, “They’re an absolute nightmare to get anything out of them.”
“Eh, they’re not too bad now,” Danny smiles, appearing to fight a laugh.
“Hello Clockwork,” Jazz says, spotting the ghost hovering by the throne, “Sorry we didn’t see you there.”
“It is of little concern, Young Princess,” they say, drifting closer.
Jazz wrinkles her nose, “I don’t think I’ll get used to that.”
“Better you than me,” Sam nudges her with an elbow.
“My King, I would advise you to visit your Haunt to see what has changed,” Clockwork says, tilting their head.
Danny Blinks.
A tremor of a conversation passing.
He smiles, “Sure, we can discuss things later.”
Clockwork bows his head.
Danny holds his hands out, “Ready guys?”
“Ready?” Jazz asks.
“To go home.”
“Aren’t we taking the Speeder?” Tucker asks.
“Trust me,” Danny smiles, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Always,” Jazz takes his hand.
“Sure why not, let’s see what sort of OP bullshit you got this time,” Tucker laughs as both he and Sam take his other hand.
Danny’s smile gets wider and between one breath and the next, they four find themselves at the top of the hill overlooking Amity.
“Whaoh,” Tucker breathes.
The clear evening sky is washed in a soft purple glow as twinkling stars shimmer despite the sun on the horizon.
Swarms of blob ghosts and shades float gently above the town, trailing like flocks of birds. Glowing brighter and brighter as the sun sets.
A hum fills the air, melodic and comforting.
Gentle.
Soothing.
Perpetual peace.
The citizens of Amity Park wander the streets. Amiable and at ease.
Jazz grabs Danny’s arm as she tilts back to look skyward. “Guys.”
They all look up.
As the very last rays of sunlight disappear, blanketing the expanse deep blue, an outline of the underbelly shines.
A long, melodic call reverberates in the air, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
“Is that a-”
The creature turns, a long pectoral fin trails low, cutting the air into streaming clouds of stardust.
“Whale?”
“No,” Danny says, eyes lit up with stars. “It’s a shark.”
The starlit outline continues past, the vertical tail of the ghostly shark moving in time with the undulating call. Gently moving over the city.
A second, higher call joins the first as a second starlit outlined shark joins the first.
“Oh, they’re beautiful, ” Sam says, awe coloring her voice.
Danny doesn’t so much as shift as he morphs into a semblance of his old ghost form.
White hair misting into stardust.
Surrounding a crown of ice fire. Brilliant ethereal blue.
Cloaked in a galactic void.
He lifts from the ground, tracing the stardust trails with a hand. Setting it alight in a kaleidoscope of colors.
His core sings in response to the song of the gentle giants swimming over His Haunt.
Joining their melody.
The galactic cloud that is their body brightens in joy.
No longer an outline, they flood the night sky in their rich colors.
Danny can’t help but laugh. An emotion from his true self, unbidden by the mask.
It floods the entirety of His Haunt.
He flies, unrestrained. Joining in the dance of the sharksong.
Higher.
And higher.
And higher.
And farther still.
Till nothing but the great expanse of the void of space surrounds them.
Danny turns back then.
To see the small brilliant blue marble of His Haunt.
Bright and ethereal amongst the black.
It takes but a thought to reach out and hold it gently.
To cherish it.
To encapsulate it into his very being.
With far too much ease, he knows it would be to accomplish.
But he restrains.
Understands the joy it is to watch and play.
Danny holds the little blue marble of Earth as he leans back.
Into the comforting embrace that is Himself.